Crossing the Borderlands
by BeatGrimsley
Summary: Devon was a hard working member of the Tediore franchise, until he killed his boss. After that he decided to do something that the police wouldn't do, and went to Pandora. While there Devon will try to make a name for himself, and maybe even make a discovery no one would have ever imagined.
1. Chapter 1:Devon

"You're honestly going to blame me for someone else's mistake? I told everyone to clear the testing area. Everyone that works for our company signs a waiver saying we aren't responsible to any harm that befalls personnel. He entered the firing range when we didn't know the hazards posed by the prototype..."

"It doesn't matter Devon. You caused the death of a Tediore employee. His family wants a lawsuit, and since the waiver was signed, the blame goes to you. I expect to see you in court tomorrow."

"This is bullshit. Miss Tediore wouldn't blame me. She would stand up for me. Unlike her snot nosed brat of a son! I don't care if you're my boss, I don't care if you're older than me. This is utter nonsense. I told everyone to leave the room. If Philips was too stupid to realize I was testing the possibility of making Tediore sniper rifles."

"Devon, I've warned you about bringing up my mother. And how would you like to lose your job? Because the way you're speaking to me implies you don't think I won't..."

The sound of single gun shot emanates from the ECHO.

"Damn I've wanted to that for a long time. But now I have another reason to go to prison. Great. I just need to get off world, get to one of those planets no one ever goes to look. Well I could go to Pandora, two Vaults found, remnants of Hyperion, should be hectic enough for me to fit in."

Devon shut off his ECHO andleaned back in his seat. The ride was long and boring. Five hours in a shuttle that was enough room for six people, but only had one occupied seat, his. He decided to dig through his storage deck unit. All he had grabbed was his pistol and ECHO device. He let out a depressed sigh and decided to listen to the music he had stored on his ECHO. As his music filled the shuttle he began to lighten up. His head began to bob to the music as he stood up to dance in his own pathetic way. He was uncoordinated when it came to dancing, but he enjoyed the sensation of moving out of that seat.

Suddenly he got an idea and danced over to the console of the shuttle and began to type in some commands so the filters of the glass would lighten so he could see the expanse of space outside his vessel. He spotted a planet nearby, and hoped it was his destination. He leaned forward, pressing his face against the glass trying to see if the moon was anywhere nearby, or the rumored Hyperion moon base. Devon was soon greeted by what he hoped to see, and had his breath taken away by the sight of the Hyperion behemoth. A station like that was far outside of Tediore's budget. He imagined a giant T hovering over the moon, and it would explode after every shot. He shuddered at the thought and turned on another song.

* * *

When his shuttle landed Devon realized Pandora had many types of climates. All he had ever heard of this planet was arid badlands and deserts. He tried to pull his clothes tighter as he struggled to stay warm. He considered trying to calibrate the shuttle so it would hover above the ground so he could try to get around faster. Unfortunately it seemed to be out of commission, as smoke began to seep from the ship.

"That doesn't give much encouragement. Guess they don't want any possibility of people leaving this planet. I wonder where I am?" he sighed, rubbing his arms. "Real bright idea for your wardrobe."

Devon looked over his clothes and groaned. He came in the clothes he usually wore to work. A blue collared shirt with a black vest hardly kept his scrawny torso warm. His brown cargo pants weren't really keeping him warm below the belt either. With an exasperated sigh, he climbed into shuttle to try and scrounge some parts to try and create a thermal shield. He decided to scrap as much of the ship as possible, and considered tearing the seats up to try and make something to warm himself up.

After managing to reactivate the fuel cells of the shuttle he downloaded a map of Pandora into his ECHO, and fashioned himself an armband to keep his ECHO in easy reach. After salvaging the ships shield's he managed to make a shield that kept him comfortable. After tearing the seats up, he fashioned himself a holster and gloves. Not much, but it was all he could make that held together. Devon inspected his map and read that he was in an area known as the Tundra Express. The map showed there was a fast travel station not too far from where he had landed. He jumped out of the shuttle and waved farewell to it.


	2. Chapter 2: Life on Pandora

"So if I am understanding what you are telling me, you want to leave me here, while you all go to Wam Bam Island. I could care less if you are leaving me here alone." called Doctor Patricia Tannis as Lilith stood in the doorway.

"Umm, okay. If anyone tries to ECHO for us just contact me." Lilith laughed as she headed towards the fast travel station.

"Finally, I can resume my vault studies." Tannis sighed as she tapped her ECHO recorder. "With the Vault of the Warrior opened, it may take longer for the Vault Key to recharge, but if Lilith or Maya are willing to allow me to experiment on them we may be able..."

"Wassup shawtys?" interrupted the energetic voice of Tiny Tina over the headquarters comm system. "Lilly? Mordy? Brick?"

"I must also make a filter to prevent people such as the child Tina from broadcasting with just her ECHO device."

"Patty wazzam girl? Where da Vault Hunters?"

"Well Tina they left for Wam Bam Island. A vacation of sorts, filled with drinking." Tannis explained as she walked to the command center so she could try and shut off the comm device.

"What? And they didn't invite me? That's cold. Definitely not ace. Could I ask you for a favor than shawty?" Tina sighed over the ECHO.

"You may ask, as to whether or not I will carry out this favor..."

"There was a big explosion out near my workshop and it wasn't caused by one of my bombs. At least I don't think it was one. Ummm, let me get back to you on that." Tina interrupted.

"Well I'll get a hold of one of the Vault Hunters and have them investigate. I don't think you'd be upset if you ended the fun for one of them."

"Whateva floats your boat Patty." Tina sang as she hung up.

Tannis sighed as she started to contact Lilith. "I require an assistant."

* * *

"All sales are final." Marcus shouted as he pointed a gun at his latest customer. Watching the terrified citizen of Sanctuary scramble up the stairs out of his shop, Marcus sighed knowing why another return attempt was made.

The guns he offers through vendors are often low quality, and ready to break. He spends what little free time he has trying to repair as many guns as he can so he can sell them for a higher price. He looked through the sight of the shotgun in his hands and noted the wire showing inside the scope. He had the tools but not the time to fix the loose wire.

"If I had the money and the people I could stop selling these clearance weapons. Marcus Munitions needs its own weapons to sell. I can only make so much being the middle man." he though to himself. "I can put a weapon together, but I can't design a gun. If only Hyperion had anyone with the courage to abandon the company. If I could get one of their designers it would be a perfect opportunity."

* * *

Trekking through the tundra proved to be easier than Devon originally thought. The refugee noted the presence of large mines throughout the landscape, and took the caution of assuming they were still active. He doubted a simple pistol would protect him from the bandits said to populate Pandora, but he figured he could handle a single bandit if he encountered one. As for the hostile wildlife, Devon had always managed to get animals to like him. He could manage.

"Some nice gear ya got!" called a large man in the distance.

Devon tried to get a better look at the man, but his thick coat kept him from noticing anything. He was pretty tall, and hefty, and his hat kept his face hidden. He looked like he was holding an assault rifle. Devon figured he was talking about his shield, but decided to play dumb. "No, I've only got a basic Tediore pistol. I don't have anything special."

"Dibs on his stuff, get him boys!" Shouted the man pointing towards Devon. Following the large man's orders, three men jumped out from the snow and charged towards Devon.

"Shit!" Devon exclaimed as he turned around and sprinted away. Of course the first people he meets wanted him dead, it was just his luck. He pulled his pistol out and start shooting at the closest man.

He managed to hit the bandit's leg making him stumble to the ground, but he started to shoot at Devon. Following their fellow bandit's lead they all began to fire at their victim. Devon knew he had two shots left before he would need to reload, but decided to hurl his sidearm at the men now so the explosion would have a little more power. He chucked the small pistol towards one of the mines and was amazed at the stupidity of one of the bandits as he walked up to grab the pistol as it exploded, killing him.

"I get his bunk now!" yelled the bandit who was laying on the ground.

"But I get his gun!" laughed the other remaining bandit walking towards the mine to claim his fallen friend's gun.

Devon was simply astounded at the sheer ignorance of the bandits. He watched as the other approached the mine, and turned to look away when it exploded.

"Whatsyourname! Nooo!" shouted the wounded bandit. "I kinda liked him!"

Devon sighed and aimed at the crippled bandit and managed to nail him in the head. He was surprised when the bandit managed to stand up, despite taking a bullet to the head. "How are you still alive?"

"I've been shot in the head before." was the simple response. "Plus I have a healing shield which fixed up my leg."

Devon was sure this guy wouldn't fall for the exploding gun trick again, so he decided to test something he pulled from the shuttle. "Alright you got me. I'm putting my gun up and putting my hands behind my back!"

That surprised the bandit. No one ever really gave up like that. He smiled under his mask, despite missing a few teeth from the shot to the face earlier. "Stay there, I'm coming for you."

Devon smiled as his hand wrapped around the round handle of a tesla coil he had pulled out of the ship. He lucked out with being a self fueling coil, all he had to do was twist the handle to activate it. The electricity would destroy the bandit's shield, and hopefully cause him to fall backwards so he could grab his gun and finish off this bandit. He watched with anticipation as the bandit drew closer and closer. Devon twisted the handle, priming the coil, and as the bandit got closer Devon lunged forward. Just as he had hoped it tore the shield to shreds, but it was more powerful than he had expected and made the bandit begin to convulse as he fell to the ground. He shuddered violently until he stopped moving at all. Devon kicked the bandit trying to get a response, but got nothing. Devon knelt down and picked up the bandits gun, a Dahl Falcon SMG. He turned to see the leader of his would-be robbers slowly advancing towards him.

Aiming his newly acquired Falcon at the man, Devon pulled trigger knowing it would have a three round burst, but the gun was jammed. With a growl of frustration Devon hurled the gun at the advancing bandit. It knocked the mans hat off, leaving his head exposed. Devon quickly pulled his pistol out and thanked God he had a Punctilious Fresh Biggun. He pulled the trigger twice, the first shot hitting the man's head, lowering his shield. The second hit the man in the throat.

Devon couldn't stand to watch the man die, so he turned and began to walk away. He spotted a cave up ahead with a metal sheet on a chain hanging above, acting as a door. Devon cautiously approached the entrance and called inside, "Hello? Is anyone in here? I uh, just recently arrived on Pandora, and was just attacked. Please tell me someone sane lives here."

"Well hello there good sir. Welcome to my humble abode." called a young girls voice. "I can assure you that you have met one of the finest ladies of all of Pandora."

"Oh thank goodness. I honestly have no clue how to get around this place and I just want to find a place where I can help out." Devon explained as he entered the cave.

"Well you might to wait before you can do that sucka!" yelled the girl as Devon felt himself rise into the air as he sucked into the vacuum trap behind the entrance.

* * *

Tannis had contacted Lilith right when the old Vault Hunters had joined the group at the beach. Of the ten that were they decided to vote on who would go to investigate what was going on in the Tundra Express. Gaige was voted to go, seeing as she was the youngest, and got along with Tina the most. She grumbled as she glared at Salvador and Axton. Everyone else had gotten one vote, except Zer0, who had no votes. She packed up her beach gear, and ran to change out of her swimsuit. She had been enjoying her time, and prayed that it was nothing so she could come back and knock the two men on their asses.

As she pulled on her school uniform Gaige ECHOed Tina. "Tina, please tell me you don't need me to scour Tundra Express to find what exploded."

"Gaige, my dear Mechromancer, no you don't. You just need to beat the crap out of this guy who walked into my workshop after blowing up one of my mines and causing an explosion that I can't figure out. He don't seem dangerous, but he dressed pretty fancy. Fancypants means money, and money means power." Tina exclaimed over her ECHO.

"Aww crankshaft." Gaige sighed. She stepped out of the changing room and ran to the fast travel station and input Tundra Express so she could make her way to Tina's workshop quickly.


	3. Chapter 3: Attack on Tina

**Authors note: I just want to thank you guys for taking the time to read this. I'm open to any critiques you guys have. A big thanks to muSU1, your comment brightened my day when I read it. Now onto the story**

"Alright who you is? How high up are you with Hyperion?"

Devon looked up at the teenage girl who had him tied to chair at a table set up for a tea party. He was amazed at how quickly she had him tied up. He looked at his gun across the table and mentally kicked himself for considering shooting this girl. He decided to try and reason with her.

"I honestly hate Hyperion. They have such weird uniforms, I mean yellow and white? Trust me, I am not with them." Devon laughed. "I worked for Tediore, you know, the guns that explode when they are reloaded."

"Oh yeah? How do I know that sucka?" snapped the girl.

"Tediore is made to be cheap, reliable, and easy to use..."

"Just like yo momma!" laughed the girl.

"Oh my god, I love saying that!" Devon nodded. "It's the best part of that motto."

"You don't seem too bad, but I'm gonna have my Vault Hunter buddy comes and gets some information out of you."

"Well may I ask the name of my captor?"

"I am Tiny Tina, the mistress of explosions!" cheered the girl adopting a British tone. "And what is your name bitchface?"

"Devon."

"Well Devon, you are too clean to be a bandit, so those guys running towards the entrance are either after you or me." Tina exclaimed running to a lever nearby. After pulling it, Devon heard a large crash behind him. "Eduardo, come here boy!"

Devon turned to see an animal that seemed to be covered in flames. He gasped and tried to back away but fell. "What the hell is that thing?"

"That's my puppy Eduardo. He's a skag." Tina answered untying Devon. "You said you were attacked when you came in. Did you kill any of those bitch ass bandits?"

"I was attacked by a group of four guys. Three guys my size, and one big guy with a weird hat." Devon recalled.

"Oooh, you killed a Nomad, those guys are like leaders. Ever since I electrocuted Flesh-Stick they have been listening to the Nomads. They got reasons to kill both of us!" Tina yelled.

As Devon stood up he looked around Tina's workshop. He saw some pretty advanced tools, and had an idea. "Tina how long will that door keep them out?"

"I don't know, depends on what they're hitting the door with fool!"

"Does that generator work?" Devon called as he ran about collecting tools.

"Mr. Sparks? No, he doesn't have any fuel left." Tina sighed patting the generator.

"Aha! Here Tina take this copper wire and attach run it around the entrance area. Just make sure there is enough to reach Mr. Sparks!" Devon yelled taking his ECHO device off his arm and began opening it up.

"Okay, don't know what it's gonna do though." Tina sighed.

"After you do that I want you to take that thing you had taken from me that wasn't my gun. shove it into the outlet on Mr. Sparks and twist the handle. It's a Tesla coil and it should reactivate him. Just don't turn him on until the bandits get in." Devon instructed.

"This sounds like its gonna be fun!" Tina laughed running around spreading the wire. "Maybe we won't need the Vault Hunter to come help with this."

"I don't think I'll be able to do much with just a pistol. I'm modifying my ECHO so I can hack shields. I should have turned on the heads-up-display so I could see when that bandit had a shield. Besides my pistol hardly has any ammo left." Devon explained.

"There's an Ammo Dump in there." Tina shouted pointing towards the workshop with her hand as she inserted the Tesla coil into her generator. "It's ran by a the planets only supply dealer. He uses these kind to sell ammo."

Devon looked up from his work and ran over to the machine. Looking through the merchandise Devon had an idea. "Tina you said this dealer sells everything?"

"Yeah, Marcus sells guns in machines like this one, but this one only deals with ammo."

"Not for long!" Devon laughed as he forced the machine open using a crowbar he grabbed off of a nearby table.

* * *

Marcus looked through a transcript of all his vendors, and was shocked to see that he was guns were being sent through his Ammo Dump in Tina's workshop. And what was worse they were going for free!

"What the hell is that girl doing! She is going to get a piece of my mind!" Marcus yelled. He stormed out of his shop towards the Crimson Raider headquarters.

"Lilith, I need you to take care of that child Tina!" Marcus yelled upon entering the building.

"Lilith and the Vault Hunters have all left. They went on vacation, but one of them is being sent to check on her, due to a random explosion that occurred in Tundra Express." sighed Dr. Tannis as she turned in her chair to face the loud intruder. "I assume something is bothering your money grubbing, and it must include Tina."

"That girl is stealing guns from me!" Marcus shouted. "I am losing money!"

"That is mildly amusing." Tannis said letting out a small laugh. "Tina may be a smart girl, but I honestly doubt she could manage to hack one of your machines."

Marcus growled and marched out of the headquarters, and went to get his ECHO device so he could call Lilith to have the situation taken care of.

* * *

"How did you manage to make guns come out of the Ammo Dump?!" Tina laughed as she brandished a Maliwan corrosive smg.

"You said the same guy sold them from different machines, so I figured they have similar digistruct codes. I searched for an output that had the same point of origin and transferred the goods within it to this machine, I also made it send it for free." Devon explained as he pulled out a Vladof assault rifle.

"You got some mad skills. If we make it out of this we should play Bunkers and Badasses." Tina offered.

"Sure, I'll have to make a character, it's been years since I played." Devon laughed. "Go ahead and open the door. We're ready for anything. Remember, don't pull the lever to the generator until they get to the wire."

"Well duh." Tina laughed pulling a lever to hoist the door open.

The duo pointed their guns at the entrance, awaiting the swarm of bandits to enter as the sound of pounding at the door. They watched, holding their breath as the metal wall was lifted off the ground to reveal piles of dead bandits. Standing in the middle of the slaughter was a lone girl with pigtails, with a massive robot hovering behind her.

"What the hell?" Devon gasped.

"Gaige! Wazzup home girl!" Tina laughed dropping her gun and running towards the girl.

"Tina, this had better be important. You made me have stop tanning. I'm pale as hell, I need some color!" the girl growled.

"Come meet my new friend! He hacked Marcus's Ammo Dump so guns pop out for free!" Tina cheered as she pulled the girl towards Devon.

"Um, hi, I'm Devon." Devon greeted awkwardly.

"I'm Gaige, my metal friend is Deathtrap." the girl said with a smirk. "You're good with computers?"

"Well, I have a lot of experience making other people's products work for me. Tediore had a tendency of trying to reverse engineer other companies gun designs. I was their best at hacking." Devon laughed.

"Gaige, you with Tina yet?" called a voice over Gaige's ECHO.

"Lilith, yeah. I'm here. What's up?" Gaige replied into her communicator.

"Marcus is having a fit about her hacking his machine in her workshop. He says he lost money. Talk to her about it."

"Hey don't be blaming me Free Lily!" yelled Tina.

"We have a third person here with us. He might be able to shed some light on this situation." Gaige laughed handing her ECHO device to Devon.

"Umm, hi, I'm Devon. I recently arrived here on Pandora. I take responsibility for the damage, I was just trying to get something to keep Tina safe. We had a group of bandits trying to get in her workshop." Devon explained.

The group of three sat awaiting a response, until a deep voice came through the ECHO. "Tina, are you okay?"

"Yeah Brick its all Ace. You should come over, Devon agreed to play a little B&B with me, you should join in." Tina shouted.

"Do I get to punch orcs?"

"Well of course my dear Brick."

"Then hell yeah! SLABS start packing up we are going home!" shouted Brick over the ECHO.

"Welcome to Pandora." Gaige laughed patting Devon on the back with her metal arm. Devon made a mental note to ask her about it later. Gaige put her ECHO device back into her storage deck and sat down at the tea table. "I guess we'll be going to Sanctuary to introduce you to everyone. Tina are you coming with?"

"I shall arrive after I gather all the necessary supplies for the journey we will partake in once we begin our game!" Tina cheered running around her workshop picking up random scraps of paper. "Gaige, if you would be so kind as to prevent Devon from dying I would be most appreciative." Tina said taking on her British accent again.

"Of course milady." Gaige laughed as she rocked out of the chair to stand up. "C'mon Devon, I want to ask some questions."

"Alright. I'll be seeing you Tina. Keep my Tesla coil, think of it as a gift." Devon said with a nod towards Mr. Sparks. He picked up his ECHO device off of a work bench and put it on around his forearm. He had an idea, and would need to work on it some more if he was going to make it work correctly. He grabbed his pistol and it into his holster and followed Gaige out. So many questions filled his head as he followed her to what might be his new home.


	4. Chapter 4: Being Gaiged

**Author's Note: This chapter would have been up some time ago if I had not been stubborn with trying to beat several Raid bosses by myself, and then some more with my mother, yes she plays with me. Let me know what you think. This chapter may be a bit cramped near the end, so I apologize ahead of time.**

As Gaige led Devon away from Tiny Tina's workshop, she considered what would be a good start for a conversation. The last time she had to introduce herself to anyone was when she was attending the wedding Moxxi had tried to set up.

"So, how did you get the metal arm?" Devon asked, his curiosity finally overcoming him.

"Oh you know, lab accident. Sliced my arm on some sheet metal, maybe only halfway to the bone." Gaige laughed.

Devon looked at her incredulously and sighed. He remembered where he was and figured that was the norm. "And that robot of yours, Deathtrap, where does he go when he isn't killing bandits?"

"He is digitally constructed from my arm. Originally this was just a rod to digistruct DT, but I couldn't think of resourceful way to carry it around. Then the whole arm slice thing happened." Gaige explained. "Tell me about that thing you were making in the workshop."

"Ah, that was a little project I've been working on since I worked for Tediore. I was important to the reverse engineering process. All weapon companies have some department that deals with trying to match their competitors. I got in trouble with everyone except the founder Mrs. Tediore. She had a soft spot for me, and that allowed me to do my own experiments. My project is called the Gauntlet. It is supposed to be able to download shield capabilities and project them onto the user. I had finally made a prototype before I had an incident that made me have to leave. I killed my boss."

"Wait, so that thing on your wrist can copy shields?" Gaige exclaimed running over to observe Devon's armband.

"That's the only part you heard?" Devon laughed as he took off his project and handed it to Gaige. "Downside to it is that it renders the shield it downloads useless. I haven't tried to use it yet, so I'm not sure if it works."

"Why not try it on your shield?"

"Because I just built this thing so it's kinda buggy. But that does give me an idea."

"What's your idea?" Gaige asked suspiciously.

"I salvaged parts to make this shield from my shuttle, but I couldn't open the area where the engine was. I may be able to stabilize the shield." Devon suggested.

"Hmm, it sounds like a good idea. And we might be able to find a shield that could protect Sanctuary." Gaige added.

"Or I could test it on any other shields you have?"

"We can do that after we scrap your ship." Gaige grunted as she handed Devon his armband back. "Is that your ECHO too?"

"You noticed that? Yeah, I downloaded my ECHO into it, as a test. If it can download that it should work on a fully functioning shield." Devon replied. "I can see the crater where I blew up a mine, I wonder if that bandit's shield is there."

"Should be, the animals around here make quick work of dead bodies, hopefully they didn't eat the gear too."

Devon shuddered at the thought of animals that could swallow a gun. He quickened his pace to see if bodies of the men he had killed were still here. He wasn't sure what he expected to feel when he saw their corpses, but joy wasn't one emotion he felt looking at the scattered body parts of the men he had caused to explode.

"Only one body that isn't all over the place is fried. Same goes for his shield. Anshin too, it would have been useful." Gaige sighed as she knelt over the bandit that Devon had killed using a tesla coil. When she looked at Devon she was surprised at the guilt on his face. He was not a killer, she could tell. It was the same way she had felt when she first arrived on Pandora. She didn't feel that guilt until she reached Liar's Burg and killed Flynt's men. She had been with a group of people who had trained to kill, or had experience. She placed her metal hand on his shoulder lightly, trying to comfort him.

"I.. I didn't come here to do this." Devon sighed. "I only wanted to find a place where I could be safe. I could make a name for myself. I can't do that in a place where it's kill or be killed."

"Yeah you can. There are people who live here who have pretty normal lives. I can take you to a place where that is possible." Gaige offered. "Forget your ship, we'll get you to Sanctuary now. C'mon I'll lead you to the fast travel."

"Okay." Devon nodded. "Thank you. I probably look pathetic, don't I?"

"You look like a lil Bitch!" shouted a voice behind the pair. Tina had a large backpack, with her. Her newly acquired gun was firmly in her hands, Devon regretted giving her that.

"You got here just in time Tina. We're headed to the fast travel. Forget anything?" Gaige laughed.

"Nope, Enrique has enough food to last a week." Tina said with a wave of her hand.

With that the trio headed towards the only way of reaching Sanctuary.

* * *

To say the Vault Hunters were upset to end their vacation early was an understatement. They were all visibly pissed. Except for Zer0, who seemed disinterested like always. Axton was the one to voice his anger first.

"Lilith are you serious? We all have to go because of something this small? Gaige is there taking care of things." Axton groaned.

"Slab, I said pack up. If I'm not on the beach you aren't on the beach!" Brick yelled.

"Surely we can stay if Mordecai stays behind." Maya suggested.

"Nah, I don't think that salt in the air is good for Talon. Honestly I was planning on heading back myself.

At the mention of salt Krieg began shouting about stripping flesh. He had been acting strangely since the assassins Sparky Flynt had sent after them. The message he got shed light on something they had already known. Krieg had been tested on at the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve. He seemed eager to leave, that was evident.

"What if Hammerlock stays" Sal offered.

"I must decline. After being held aloft as an offering to that monstrous leviathan of a crabworm, I have to admit to have had my fill of this island." Sir Hammerlock explained.

"You going to try to make an excuse to stay Z?" Lilith asked looking to the assassin.

When he vanished it became clear to everyone he had used his Decepti0n to wander off. Suddenly the sound of loud speakers came on and Zer0's voice echoed through the beach.

"I won't leave this beach. You'll have to drag me away. My target is here."

Everyone looked at each other, thinking to the message Zer0 had gotten. One, whoever this person was, he was important to Zer0.

"Somebody stay with him. Make sure he doesn't get killed." Lilith ordered. "I'd prefer it to be you Maya. You're the most responsible. If anything happens contact us. If worse comes to worse I'll be here as soon as possible."

Axton was about to argue, but Krieg beat him to it. "IF THE BLUE HAIRED BEAUTY STAYS, I DO TO!" Krieg growled.

"Krieg, you have other things to take care of." Maya said placing her hand on the side of Krieg's face. "Find Doctor Samantha. She may be able to help you."

'She is right. Do this for us. We may be able to reclaim some our old self.'

"Sammy, sweet mother! Beat me 'til the voice stops!" Krieg shouted running to the fast travel station. "There are no brakes on the poop train!" with that Krieg was gone.

"Well amigo, looks like we get to gotta go." Sal sighed patting Axton's back.

Axton looked at his short friend and smiled in defeat. "Yeah, may want to put a shirt on before we travel back. The Raiders might think you're a mutated monglet that managed to use a fast travel station." as the gunzerker reached for his gun Axton sprinted to the station and entered the coordinates for Sanctuary and waved goodbye.

"Pendejo!" Sal screamed unloading his shotgun into the sand.

"Relax hermano, you'll have a chance to get him back." Mordecai laughed. "C'mon, I'll pay for drinks when we get back."

Lilith watched everyone go about packing and leaving. She couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was on Pandora, she just couldn't figure out what. When everyone had left and she was standing alone with Maya, who was waiting for Zer0 to regroup with her. "Be careful. It sounds like everything is fine with Tina, but something else is on this planet. I feel it."

"You felt it too? I thought it was just me." Maya gasped. "I've had the feeling that someone has been watching all of us."

"I've had a similar feeling. I've felt this a couple times. When I was with Roland and the others and we first met Steele was the first time. Then when you arrived at Frostburn, I felt it. Then when we went to deal with Angel. I always get this feeling when another Siren is near." Lilith explained.

"So you think a new Siren is on Pandora?"

"Maybe. Just be careful. Z never really explained One. This person might be a Siren in a suit like Zer0's."

"But this feeling I have isn't like that."

"What do you mean Maya?"

"I got this feeling whenever I was about to get into a dangerous fight." Maya explained. "Wilhelm, the bunker, Jack, fights where someone gets hurt."

"If you think something bad is going to happen keep me updated. I'll be here as soon as possible."

"Will do." Maya nodded.

* * *

"Welcome to Sanctuary." Gaige exclaimed as her group appeared in Pearce Station.

"I'll be at the Raider HQ is you girls need me." Tina laughed as she ran off.

"So where do I go first?" Devon asked.

"You'll probably want to talk your way out of trouble with Marcus. Knowing him he'll probably try shooting you." Gaige suggested. "May want to turn your shield on."

With a nervous laugh, Devon followed Gaige to a shop that went down a flight of stairs. He was scared of being shot. He managed not to get shot when dealing with those bandits. Point blank he wasn't sure how the shield would hold.

"Gaige, welcome..." greeted the man until he spotted Devon, "Is he the one who hacked my machine?!"

"In his defense," Gaige argued.

"You have three options." Marcus interrupted. "One, pay for the guns and damage. Two, have me shoot you in the head. Or three, work for me until I feel that you have done enough for me."

"Well I would certainly like to avoid option two." Devon nervously laughed. "What kind of work do you need done? I don't have a cent to my name, so option three is my best bet."

Marcus looked at the young man, studying him. He didn't expect much from him. He figured he'd be putting a bullet into the kid's head if he didn't work hard.

* * *

When Lilith arrived in Sanctuary she went to Marcus's shop to see how things with Tina and whoever was with her. When she saw Gaige and Tina carrying boxes of broken gun parts outside of his shop, she was shocked to say the least.

"Are you sure I can't just sell them at a discounted price?" Marcus pleaded.

Lilith looked to Gaige who winked and dropped her box into a dumpster. Tina laughed and carried her box to Gaige's apartment where she had a workshop for her projects.

"I've never seen you two do work like this without complaining. Is that new friend of yours in there with Marcus?" Lilith asked.

"Yeah, Devon worked for Tediore so he can tell which guns are fixable without high tech tools. Those stay in the shop. The ones Tina has are ones that are a little more advanced so they need better tools, so I'm going to hold onto them in my lab. The one's that are broken to hell are going in the dumpster. Marcus didn't like him at first, but five minutes in and he loves him!" laughed the anarchist.

"I've got to meet this guy if he get close to Marcus." Lilith laughed. When she got in she saw just how much they had got into cleaning out the shop's inventory. The clutter that was usually in the shop was much worse, but boxes were being filled by a young man she hadn't seen before while Marcus was reading through a list of all the guns in the system.

"I'm just saying, if you had this many guns in this bad of a condition you could have shut your vendors down and repaired them. Now you have to close down your entire system." sighed the young man.

"I am a man who always seeks opportunity. Capitalism never takes a day off." argued Marcus turning to face the newcomer. "Oh, Liliith. I'm currently closed. My new employee is just helping me turn a better profit."

"Hi, I think we spoke on Gaige's ECHO. I'm Devon, nice to meet you." he said offering his hand.

"Sup. I'm Lilith, leader of the Crimson Raiders." she replied accepting his handshake.

"I'm sorry about the fuss I caused. Gaige said you guys were on a vacation, and my shuttle crashing made Tina call you guys." Devon apologized.

"It's fine. Most of us were bored anyway." Lilith laughed. "I take it you don't have a place to stay. If you need a bed you can stay at the Raider's HQ."

"I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight. Even if Marcus turns in, I can never leave a supply room in a mess. But thank you for the offer." Devon said with a slight smile.

"Well I'll leave you guys to your work. I want to hear your story, so come see me some time when you aren't busy."

As she began to walk up the stairs her ECHO started vibrating. She figured it was Maya, checking in, but was surprised it was Zer0. "What's up Z? I thought Maya would be the one to call.

"It's Maya, Zer0 isn't moving, and they broke my ECHO. I don't know who they are, but they kept calling Zer0 a coward. Their leader managed to cut right through my Phaselock. I managed to drag him to Earl's water wheel. I don't know if they're following me." Maya explained quickly. "Hurry!"


	5. Chapter 5: One

"So why do you think One is here?" Maya sighed as she followed her assassin friend.

"One is not my foe. One is a piece of my past. A piece I ran from." Zer0 replied. "Mercy is coming. A challenge approaches me. You should not stay here."

"No can do. You tried to do this when we met." Maya chided. "You and Sal were itching to go and find Jack on your own after the train blew up. You can't do everything on your own."

"Maya listen to me." Zer0 said turning to her. "I don't want any casualties for something I did in my past."

Maya stared at her usually silent friend. It was rare for him to break his poetic speech pattern. "Zer0, I'm here to help you. Nothing can change that."

"Quiet!" Zer0 hissed as he shoved Maya to the ground. He quickly entered Decepti0n, leaving the Siren alone.

Maya slowly rose from the mud as she listened for whatever made Zer0 go on alert. She heard a faint whistle, a melody she had never heard before. It stopped as a male voice shouted in the distance.

"I got something! Might be more natives, but I got two moving humanoids."

Maya crouched behind a fallen log trying to stay hidden from whoever was out there.

"Zeeerrooooo? Where are you coward?" laughed the voice.

"Dirge! Quit playing around." Shouted a feminine voice from the treetops. Maya looked to see a young woman drop from the foliage above up ahead. "We need to get the drop on him. The message should have been more than just 'one.'"

"One message received. Where is he? Where is Kronos? Don't listen to..." Zer0 called from the trees before a loud explosion interrupted him.

"I see he still talks like that." growled the male.

Maya focused and phaselocked Dirge, making him drop what looked like a megaphone. "Stay still!" she shouted.

The girl turned to Maya as her hands began to digistruct a weapon of some kind. Before it fully formed Zer0 tackled her to the ground and pinned her arms. "Maya, RUN!" Zer0 shouted.

Maya tightened the phaselock, making her captive yell out in pain. "Zer0 move so I can get her in too!"

"Not happening." barked a man as he cut through the sphere. Maya couldn't see a blade, only a staff in his hands. But she was shocked, this man had cut through her intradimensional prison like it was nothing with a blunt rod. "Aegis!"

With that one word another man plowed through, grabbing Maya's friend and pinning him to the ground. "Hello there Coward." growled the burly Aegis.

"Juggler!" shouted the man with a staff, pushing his red hair out of his eyes.. His command was followed by a volley of knives flying at the Siren. Her shield deflected most of the blades, but her shield soon broke releasing a fiery nova. As Maya tried to avoid the knives the woman who Zer0 had pinned had gotten back up. She ran to the Siren and grabbed Maya's tattooed arm and tried to slip a patch of some kind onto her.

"Artemis leave her." Zer0 growled.

The young woman gave a smirk as she released the Siren and finished Zer0's haiku. "Still speaking in haikus, One? Can't you ever stop?"

"Siren, leave now." growled the man with the staff. "This man needs to pay for his betrayal."

Maya looked at her friend who stared at the man with the staff. "Kronos." he growled.

"Runner. My former brother in chains." growled Kronos.

Zer0, struggled in Aegis's arms, trying to escape, until a emote appeared on his visor: ":p" and he then exploded. Maya took this opportunity to try and phaselock Kronos. As he began to rise a Maya felt her head begin to pound as a loud sound pierced her ears.

"Nope." snickered Dirge pointing his megaphone at the Siren. A visible sound wave was coming from the device, until Zer0 cut through it with his digistruct blade.

"Run!" Zer0 ordered pulling Maya up. "Contact Lilith. We need to leave now."

As Maya pulled out her ECHO a bolt of energy shot through it. Maya looked to see Artemis holding a bow made of pure energy in her hands. She pulled the drawstring back, causing another arrow to form. Maya tried to push her friend out of the way, but the arrow followed his head, cracking the back of his helmet and knocking him out cold. Maya began to drag Zer0 searching him for his ECHO, and called for help.

* * *

"Alright degenerates. This is your new neighbor. Didn't have a name when I nabbed him. But hell if he can't run. From here on his name is Runner, and he'll be in the cell between Artemis and Mistro." barked the warden.

"I said my name is Dirge!" groaned a prisoner looking up from a computer. "You know, the kind of song that's played as someone is buried? My music killed people, give me some respect."

The newly named Runner looked to the captive, wearing a pair of headphones around his neck and a black hoodie with its sleeves torn off. His computer had music coming from it, nothing he had heard before though. Next to him was a girl, she wore a cloak concealing most of her body. She had brunette hair and used goggles as a hair band. She smiled at her new cellmate.

"He's in cell number one." she laughed. "I'm calling him One."

* * *

Maya was sitting in Zed's clinic with Lilith next to a bed with the injured Zer0 occupying it. Axton stood by, listening to the details of the ambush.

"They knew Zer0. And they knew how to deal with a Siren. These guys are a big deal." Axton grumbled. "Once he wakes up, Z has some explaining to do."

"The leader, Kronos is what Zer0 called him, he called him a former brother in chains. Doesn't that imply they were imprisoned together?" Maya suggested.

"Tell me what he looked like. That way we can keep an eye out for him." Lilith suggested.

"Shaggy dark red hair. Black jacket with white numbers sewn into it. Probably an old prison uniform. Black pants too. I was too distracted by the staff though. It was probably steel, but he managed to break my phaselock with it. There is something up with it, it might have had Eridium or something. Didn't Jack use Eridium in that collar?" sighed Maya.

"It kept me from phasewalking. It might counter Siren abilities." Lilith explained.

"Doesn't matter. I'm heading out there. I'll bring Sal and we'll get those bastards." Axton growled as he turned to leave.

"No." gasped Zer0. "They want me. They'll kill any who interfere."

"Well how about you start telling us about that past. Everyone else has shared as much as we can. For the love of God we know more about Krieg than you." Axton snapped.

"Ax, chill out." Lilith sighed. "Z probably had a good reason to keep things a secret. Do me a favor, maybe it'll get you to relax if you get some air. Go check on Marcus at his store, and if Gaige is there bring her here. Grab Sal too if you see him."

"Fine." with that Axton walked outside.

"Why check on Marcus?" Maya asked.

"Well he got some new fancy dressed partner. He finally has time off, he closed his store." Zed called from his work.

"A new partner?" Maya asked. "Where is he from?"

"Off world. Gaige screened him. He was the explosion." Lilith laughed.

"I would like to see. Could someone help me get up? I'm still unbalanced." Zer0 stated trying to rise.

"That'll be a no." Zed chided walking over to his patient. "That plasma arrow had enough force to crack that helmet of yours. I had to sponge the blood out of that. Your head needs time to recover. I would have had an IV dripping some health hypo into you. But that dang armor of yours, I can never remember where you showed me to put the needle."

"My helmet is breached?" Zer0 gasped reaching for the back of his head.

"You ladies go on ahead. I'm gonna try and get our ninja friend here to sleep." Zed sighed pushing Zer0 back into his bed.

* * *

"So you used to make guns?" Marcus called to Devon as he sifted through the last box of guns.

"Yes sir. I was also in charge of making shields, finding other companies secrets, and developing new tools." Devon replied as he took apart Hyperion smg.

"If I got you the tools and supplies needed, could you make guns for me?" Marcus asked.

"Well, probably. If you have designs already I could start on it using some parts from some of the guns we tossed out. I'll get on it right after I fix the stabilizer in this gun." Devon laughed.

"New batch of repaired guns here. And I figured it'd be easier to bring my tools over here." Gaige called as she walked into the shop. "Where'd Tina go?"

"Food." Devon replied getting up to take the the toolbox out of Gaige's box of guns.

"I think I'm going to call it a day. ECHO me if you need me." Gaige said with a wink as she walked outside.

"I would if I had your ECHO profile." Devon shouted following her.

"Do you think I just wanted to hold your gauntlet back in the express? I put my stuff in." Gaige laughed. "Oh hey Axton, Sal."

"Good your here." Axton grunted. "Lilith told me to check out Marcus's shop. What's going on?"

"I'm expanding, my friends. Out with the poor quality guns, and soon my own designs will be available for you to purchase." Marcus laughed approaching his two biggest customers.

"Hey do you think I could make a catch-box for Tediore guns? Just have the bandits guns reconstruct here after they reload and sell them the broken guns?" called Devon.

"Who is he?" Salvador asked.

"My new partner. He caused a bit of a stir, I almost shot him, but we resolved it." Marcus explained.

"The explosion." Lilith laughed as she appeared with Maya in the workshop.

"How did, how did she do that?" Devon gasped.

"Phasewalking. Siren ability. Jeez, you are such a n00b." Gaige sighed.

"This is the guy that got us off the island?" Axton asked.

"Unintentionally. I am so sorry!" Devon apologized turning to the commando. "I can make it up to you."

"How? You got money?" Sal grunted.

"No, but I can offer a custom made gun." Devon offered. "What kind of gun do you want Big guy?"

"A rocket launcher!" Sal laughed. "Make it launch slag and fire and kill people! Oh and make another one that does slag and acid in case I need to kill robots!"

"A twin barrel launcher, two elements, want Tediore reloads?" Devon asked as he wrote down the specs requested by the Gunzerker.

"YEAH!" shouted Sal.

"Understood. And for you?" Devon nodded turning to Axton.

"I don't need custom guns. I got my babies." Axton said with a smirk, patting his turrets.

"Dahl military grade self deploy turrets. What do yours do?" Devon noted as he began writing a new list.

"They project phanlax shields, can maglock, have laser sights, and fire slag and rocket pods." Axton listed, pride in his voice as he described his prized turrets.

"I can give them longbow deployment." Devon offered. "Or how about making it so you could deploy both with the press of a button. You know what, I have a general idea. I'll come get you when I finish your requests."

"Devon, what about my designs?" Marcus growled.

"We finished sorting faster than I thought. I'll make a couple of your guns, and then start on repaying these guys." Devon bargained.

"I want a gun." Maya interrupted. "An SMG, elemental too."

"How about a rotating barrel that cycles between fire and shock. It'll be like a spin gun, no wait! Three barrels, the third will slag, and I'll make it E-tech, I think I remember how to do that." Devon exclaimed, fire in his eyes.

"Pizza delivery for my new big brudder!" shouted Tina as she bounded into the shop with a box of Moxxie's pizza in her hands.

"You're a Godsend!" Devon exclaimed rushing to the teenager and opening the box and grabbing a slice. "Thank you."

"Well it is becoming increasingly loud." Marcus sighed. "I'm going to ask that you all leave. Devon, go ahead and rest. You've been at it all day, you can start in the morning. Get out of my shop."

"We'll move over to the clinic so Zer0 can meet you." Lilith suggested. "Then you can get a bunk at headquarters."

"Zer0 is in Zed's clinic?" Gaige gasped.

"What happened to ninja dude?" Sal growled.

"He's going to explain it again. And he might even share a bit about his past too." Axton explained. "Sal, go get drinks. Not all booze, we still have two teenage girls, and a... How old are you kid?"

"Me?" Devon asked. After Axton nodded, he laughed. "Well, I'm twenty. Not legally allowed to drink on my home planet. And before anyone asks, Eden-3."

"Alright, that's three kids." Sal laughed. "I'll grab Brick and Mordecai."

"Good idea. Might as well get everyone. Gaige, you should record this, but don't upload it to your ECHOcast." Lilith instructed.

As everyone went about their allotted tasks Devon began to feel accepted into the group of Crimson Raiders. He found a home already, and it seemed like he was making friends too.

* * *

"Runner! Devil was right to call you that!" screamed Kronos. "You don't deserve the name One! You're nothing!"

"I'm less than one. I am Zer0." shouted the black clad assassin. A red "0" projected in front of his visor as he pulled the switch to release the only functioning escape pod of the burning prison ship. "Goodbye."

"You coward!"

* * *

"There were only five that attacked." Zer0 stated. "Originally there were twelve prisoners on a ship called the Devils Den. The owner was a self proclaimed warden, and he captured unique criminals. I had never been caught. So he called me Runner."

"Wait, before you tell that, why not list the prisoners?" Devon interjected.

"The first one was Dirge. He tested out a new track, bodies hit the floor. After that he developed a portable speaker that emitted high frequency sound waves. He called it the Bass Cannon."

After hearing the name Gaige and Devon snickered. A stern look from Axton made them stop.

"The second was Artemis. We were, close. I never saw her use it until today, but she told me the day we met that her gloves could digistruct a bow and arrow made of plasma. She used it for poaching dangerous creatures."

"She look like she worked for Atlas?" Brick asked.

"No. Why?" Zer0 replied.

"Back when we were dealing with General Knoxx, we dealt with a lot of assassins with names of goddesses." Brick explained. "We killed one named Minerva, ain't Minerva and Artemis the same goddess?"

"Different cultures." Maya added. "The library in Athenas had quite a few books on ancient myths. They are Greek and Roman goddesses."

"The man they were being ordered by was Kronos. He never explained why Devil had him. We all assumed it was murder since he could beat anyone in a fight with that staff of his," Zer0 continued. "He was in charge of us prisoners until I escaped."

"Kronos was king of the Titans, father of the gods. He ate his own children to prevent them from overthrowing him. He uses a scythe in his depictions," Maya explained.

"Please stop." Zer0 requested. With a sheepish face Maya leaned back, looking away. "The big one is Aegis. He was a test subject for Pangolin. He has an unbreakable shield, and he can't feel pain. We didn't see him, but Juggler was there. A knife thrower, who is more accurate than me. There are five others."

"You said twelve prisoners though." Sal interrupted.

"I was one, and the twelfth escaped long before I did. She was ung..."Zer0 groaned as he clutched his helmet.

"Alright story time's over. I might not have a med school degree but I know he needs rest. It's not unlikely he has a concussion." Zed growled ushering everyone out. "I suggest getting some shut eye."

Everyone headed to the center of Sanctuary, everyone planning to go to there homes. Lilith to her apartment, Sal to Moxxie's bar where he'd drink more, Axton headed to the barracks with Mordecai, Brick was bound for Thousand Cuts. Maya decided on calling Krieg back and went to meet him at the Hyperion animal preserve. Devon and Gaige were left sitting on a bench staring at the stars above.

"It's surprising," Devon smiled, "I wanted to make a name for myself here, make friends, get a good thing going. It seems so easy here."

"Yeah, Pandora is weird. It seems like it'd tear people apart, but it brings those who come here together." Gaige yawned. "If you don't mind the clutter you can stay at my place for the night. On the couch I mean."

"That sounds good. Where'd Tina go?" Devon yawned as he rubbed his neck.

"She decided to stay with Lilith, and went there during your story." Gaige groaned as she rocked herself off the bench.

"Lead the way to that couch." Devon laughed lazily as he stood up. "Did not think I'd be tired today."

"I was the same way on my first night. Of course I woke up in a snowdrift after sleeping in a train car.

"Well that's what Hyperion does. Tediore lets you sleep. Trust me I slept every other day." Devon sighed.

The two laughed as they walked to Gaige's home. The two share similar memories from their homes in the same system. Eden-5 and Eden-3 were similar, the only difference was better living qualities on Eden-5.

"I'll see you in the morning." Gaige called as she walked into her bedroom.

"Night." Devon yawned as he kicked his shoes off and plopped onto the sofa. Not a bad start for his first day on Pandora.


	6. Chapter 6: Breakfasting Bad

**Authors Note: So yeah the name of this chapter is lame, but it's a running thing. Every chapter gets a name that fits the mood. This is a funny chapter, so I decided to make a reference. I appreciate the reads this has been getting and I'd love to hear your feedback. I honestly don't know what you guys think about this. Anyway enjoy!**

"Alright One, time to meet the rest of our brothers." yawned Dirge as he led the new prisoner through the cargo hold of the prison ship.

"Why does he let us wander the hold?" asked One as he followed his cell neighbor.

"Devil set this ship up so that we the prisoners have room to roam in the bottom half where no access to any of the ships major components. We each have cells that lock after nine hours of roam time. Devil personalizes them for us as we reveal more of our traits." Artemis explained.

"New prisoners start in cell one. He then has the computers digistruct the furniture he deems we deserve. Unfortunately all the cells are full so you won't get a new cell. So he won't be giving you a new room. He may put you in a cell with someone else when he makes your cell." Dirge added.

"What do your cells have?" One asked.

"Speakers, instruments, turn tables. Disc jockey essentials." Dirge laughed.

"Plants, animal pelts, a hammock. A poacher belongs in the wild. He gave me a bit of a forest. Now if he only gave me my bow." Artemis sighed.

"What can you tell me about the others? I didn't really notice anyone, I was too focused on not looking intimidated." One laughed nervously.

"Oh you'll like most of them. Just ignore anything a guy named Lights says." Dirge laughed.

"He prefers Helios." Artemis corrected.

"And I prefer not being on this ship. Once we get out of here, I don't care where, I'm going to kill that two bit hacker." Dirge growled. "He thinks he's a god. Only one person on this ship has the possibility of being called a god, and that is Her."

"Her?" One asked.

"You'll see." Artemis replied nervously.

* * *

"Finally awake?" Zed asked as his patient began to stir.

"Zed, no visitors. At least not yet, I'm too tired. Put the needle here." Zer0 groaned indicating his neck.

"I'll pass the message to Lilith." Zed chuckled.

"Thank you." Zer0 sighed.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Zed asked as he injected the medicine into the assassin.

"I suppose." Zer0 replied calmly.

"Why keep your face hidden from everyone? I understand Krieg having a bit of a mental problem. But what is your reason?"

"It's a punishment. I wronged my last group of friends. I won't hurt these ones." Zer0 said.

"The Raiders are good people. They won't judge you based on your past. You all didn't judge me based on those gene spliced creatures that I didn't create. I won't judge you on yours." Zed laughed.

"Zed, please lock the door. I see what you mean, so here. I will trust you now." Zer0 said as he reached for his helmet.

"Well time for patient confidentiality then." Zed chuckled running a hand through his hair.

"Hey, get up." Gaige yawned as she kicked Devon. The guncrafter groaned as he rolled off the couch. "Go take a shower and then we'll go get some food."

"Is there a quick change station in this city I don't want to stay in these clothes if they make me a target." Devon groaned.

"Yeah, I'll take you to it after you shower." Gaige sighed slumping down onto the couch. "Hurry up though. Knowing Axton and Sal there won't be any food left if we don't hurry."

"Yeah yeah." Devon shouted as he walked to the door she pointed towards.

Gaige paused when she realized how natural it felt to talk to Devon. He reminded her of one of the few friends she had back on Eden-5. He always stayed at her house and was practically her brother. She pulled her ECHO out and looked through her contacts, her father being the only one that wasn't on Pandora with her. She wondered how he was doing. The last time she talked to him was before going to Wam Bam Island. He told her not to do anything stupid. She sighed as she realized how much danger went on in a day. In the span of one day she fought a monster and the son of the first major bandit she ever fought.

"I should call dad and thank him for the help." she sighed. Then she decided to send the message through text to make sure he got it faster. Just as she clicked send Devon shouted out to her.

"Hey Gaige, could you just run to the station and enter the code 'DW317' it's my field work clothes?"

"Sure, make me your secretary since I'm picking up your dry cleaning." Gaige laughed,

"Yeah, yeah. What will it cost?" Devon called from the shower.

"A gun that will never miss. I have the tendency of losing control and shooting wildly." Gaige shouted.

"Accuracy. Got it." Devon shouted. "Any specific type of gun?"

"Nope. Now you better be ready to go after I get back." Gaige shouted back.

When she left Devon turned the water off and dried off. He had always taken quick showers since water prices were high back on Eden-3. He pulled on his clothes and contacted one of the few people who he knew would help him.

"Well Devon, good to see you made it to Pandora safely." exclaimed the woman over Devon's ECHO.

"Mrs. Tediore, I'm glad to have made it here. Sorry about shooting your son." Devon replied.

"Nonsense, he was going to run the company into the ground trying to up prices. I take it you want some supplies? What do you need?"

"All of my weapon designs. Any that you think the company can't make. And my tools, I got a job with one of our retailers here on Pandora."

"So you ran into Marcus, good. I'll have all of your designs, plus a few surprises for you shipped to Marcus right away. Take care of yourself out there son. I always thought of you as the son I needed to run my company. And I'm sorry about your family again. What my son did was,"

"Don't apologize. It's in the past." Devon sighed.

"I see your Gauntlet design is working. What have you added besides your ECHO profile?" Mrs. Tediore asked changing the subject.

"Nothing yet. But once I get some good quality shields I'll test out how it works on them." Devon replied perking up at the mention of his invention. "If you want I'll send you the results afterwards."

"Don't send them to me. It's your tool. Keep it." and with that Mrs. Tediore hung up. Devon smiled, knowing that his old employer would keep her word.

"Here you are sir." Gaige shouted as she walked inside. She was surprised when she saw Devon sitting on the couch.

"Well look who decided to show up." Devon laughed.

"I must say I'm impressed." Gaige said with a smirk. "Here go get changed."

"Where's the hat?" Devon asked as he looked at the red and blue pile being handed to him.

"It's in between. Go change before I make Deathtrap do it for you."

"Okay geez." Devon laughed as he ran into the bathroom to change.

* * *

The mess hall was full of Raiders and citizens of Sanctuary looking for a free freshly cooked meal. Axton sat at a table with Mordecai, Sir Hammerlock, and Sal. He eyed his plate of eggs suspiciously.

"What did you to do them?" he grunted at Sal.

"What do you mean hombre?" Mordecai asked looking up from his plate. "They seem fine to me."

"I must agree. I daresay this is the best meal Salvador has cooked to date. What is your secret?" Hammerlock exclaimed.

"No secret, I kill it then grill it." Sal boomed. "Except for juevos, can't kill them."

"Again, this time in English." Axton sighed.

"Eggs my good sir." Hammerlock replied.

"Rakk eggs are high in protein. Plus they improve your vision. Why do you think Rakk can spot you from so far away?" added Mordecai.

"I just feel like he added something to mine." Axton stated staring at his plate.

"I swear on my abuela's life I didn't add anything." Sal stated staring into the commando's eyes.

"Fine. I'll eat em." Axton sighed in defeat. With a grimace he took a bite of the eggs, and instantly spat out the contents of his mouth. "You lying bastard!"

"I didn't lie. I didn't add anything to it amigo. Slagged Rakk eggs taste that way naturally!" Salvador laughed.

"My word, these are slagged?" gasped the cybernetic gentleman.

"Nah, we only got one slagged egg. The rest are fine." Mordecai reassured the hunter as he fed Talon a spoonful of the scrambled egg.

"You are sick." Axton growled as he slid his plate over to the gunzerker.

"I cooked that for you, you're going to eat it gringo." Sal growled sliding the plate back to the commando.

"I ain't eating it." Axton snarled back, returning the meal to its cook.

"You don't want me to shove this down your throat!" Sal shouted shoving the plate back.

"Screw that!" Axton shouted tossing the plate at his dwarf friend.

Salvador ducked underneath the plate as it sailed to the entrance, and hit Maya in the face. Krieg normally would have gone into a rampage, but the sane half was in control. His search through the Hyperion labs revealed some information he was unable to share at the moment. His psycho half only controlled his mouth at the moment, and while his sane half found it mildly amusing, his psycho half screamed "THE EGGS FLY BEFORE THEY HATCH!"

Maya was surprised Krieg was behaving. She decided that since he was being good, she would be bad. She noticed an abandoned plate that had half eaten eggs, and grabbed it. She walked up to Axton and tilted her hand so the eggs slid onto his head.

Axton slowly turned to face the Siren, and was about to mouth off to her when a slice of bread soaked in jam stuck to his face. He looked for the culprit and realized it was Tina. The twisted teen smiled before jumping onto her table and screamed "FOOD FIGHT!"

The Raiders all looked around waiting for someone to throw something. It was Krieg who took the initiative and grabbed Private Jessup's plate and hurled it Sir Hammerlock. "HEADS UP HAMMY!"

"Get down!" Axton shouted as he tackled Hammerlock to the ground.

"Talon get out of here!" Mordecai barked as he ducked behind the Gunzerker who grabbed both his and Mordecai's plates and hurled them at two random troops.

"Ahahaha, feed yo faces!" Tina shouted.

Axton flipped the table he had shared with his friends and called for the two Truxicans to get behind it with him. He knew the room would soon split into factions, and he knew have Sal's ferocity and Mordy's accuracy would be a big help. Hammerlock, he'd do something.

* * *

"So Gaige, tell me." Devon started as he followed the mechromancer through the streets of Sanctuary. "You Vault Hunters have fought tough foes. Have you guys found any rare weapons?"

"Oh hell yeah. We have some of the most badass and op weapons in the galaxy. I'll show you our special training simulator that Axton helped design. His Dahl training inspired one of the coolest systems ever." Gaige laughed. "It digistructs old enemies we fought and recreates the scenario. It even plays back the audio that was recorded when we fought them."

"So you can battle some of the bandits you killed before? What does that accomplish?" Devon asked.

"Well take this one guy, Hunter Hellquist. He had this amazing shield called the Bee. When we killed him, Krieg smashed it to pieces with his buzzaxe." Gaige sighed. "But with the TVHS, we were able to recreate the fight and kill him without breaking the shield, and now it's the shield I wear."

"TVHS? What does that stand for?" Devon added.

"True Vault Hunter Simulator. After these guys had finished the gauntlet that Tannis and I had set up on Digistruct Peak we decided we could build another sim that could keep these guys on their toes." Lilith interrupted as she walked up to the pair of techies. "Like the new look Devon, you look more local."

Devon bowed before the siren, making sure the blue knit cap on his head didn't fall. He replaced the cargo pants with torn and oil stained jeans, and instead of his vest and collared shirt he had a white shirt with black sleeves. "I figured since I will be working with chemicals today I should dress to be stained."

"I'll help out too. I want to see how to build some guns so I can give Deathtrap some ranged tactics. Lightning and lasers get old." Gaige added.

"So you're going to be working in Marcus's today? Well I guess it's good that you have a distraction. Z didn't want any visitors today. We'll let him rest. We don't have any need to worry, Hyperion couldn't get us once we got in the air. I doubt a bunch of escaped convicts would be able to attack us." Lilith explained.

"I can't believe Zer0 had been captured before. He seems so disciplined." Devon sighed. "So where is this mess hall I've been hearing about?"

"Nice transition." Gaige laughed sarcastically. "C'mon, it's right around this corner."

"Sounds loud today, wonder whats going on." Lilith muttered.

As they reached the door a yellow box went flying out of the door screaming. Gaige giggled as the steward bot Claptrap tried to scrape food scraps out of his eye. Devon was about to follow the robot when they all heard a shout from their resident Commando.

"You started this war Maya, and you have fought dirty, but we are soldiers! We won't fall, we will fight for honor, for glory, FOR TASTE!" Axton shouted.

The trio entered a war zone, where several citizens rested against the walls, various breakfast foods coating them. The main fight was between two groups. Axton had taken charge of Sal and Mordecai, with Hammerlock acting as an scavenger, gathering useful ammo. Their opponents consisted of Maya leading Krieg and Tina against them.

"You call using natural ability fighting dirty? You send Claptrap to try and distract us so you can attack us with our backs turned!" Maya shouted.

"I'LL SERVE YOU A THREE COURSE MEAL OF PAIN AND STAINS!" Krieg screamed as he hurled a raw egg at Axton's group.

Devon looked at Lilith who watched the fight with a smirk. "Is breakfast always like this?"

"Nope. But it seems like fun!" Gaige laughed as she grabbed him and dragged him behind the counter where they found Scooter trying to wipe something off of his hat.

"I'm not going to stay out of this!" Lilith exclaimed jumping behind the counter too.

"Man, them sumbitches are going at it like a Zaford trying to drink his final lager after having a bullet put in his throat." Scooter shouted.

"You three stay here, I'm going to grab some ammo!" Lilith ordered as she vanished.

"Scooter, this is Devon, he tinkers like you and me." Gaige introduced.

"I recognize that name, you're the guy I sold those schematics for lightweight turrets for vehicles." Devon laughed offering his hand.

"Ohh you're that guy that outfitted my runners with guns! You are way cooler than I imagined you looking like!" Scooter chuckled accepting Devon's hand.

"I'm back, this is what I got." Lilith shouted dumping a trashcan in front of the group. The contents was a mixture of eggs, bread crusts, half eaten fruits, and scattered crumpets.

"Well, lets do this!" Gaige shouted. She grabbed a handful of scrambled eggs and chucked them at Tina.

Devon laughed as he grabbed an apple and tossed it at Axton, who dodged it and returned fire with spoonful of oatmeal. Devon had to duck behind the counter as Lilith Phasewalked again, bringing the trash can with her. When she reappeared she was behind Hammerlock and dumping the contents on him.

"Hammerlock!" Mordecai shouted as he tried to grab something to hurl at his old friend.

"Let your guard down!" Maya shouted lifting the sniper into the air. "Krieg!"

"EGGS FOR THE BIRD MAN!" Krieg cackled tossing an entire carton of eggs at Mordecai.

Scooter, having watched enough decided to buck up, and rushed at Maya with his hat full of assorted scraps of food. "Catch-a-MESSSSSSSSS!" he screamed. Krieg noticed the mechanic and grabbed a pitcher of milk with on hand as his other snagged the would be assailant of his Siren.

"I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!" Krieg screamed pouring the milk on both him and Scooter.

"I guess it's get hit and you're out!" Devon shouted to Gaige.

"Yeah, and it's just you and me left, look!" Gaige laughed as she pointed out Lilith who had been hit by a salvo of crumpets thrown by Salvador.

The battle was on it's final legs. Axton and Sal were trapped on the far end of the mess hall, hiding behind their two overturned tables. Maya was now alone, but she had the most terrain, having the main floor. Gaige and Devon shared the kitchen space, they had one advantage though. They had joined the fight late, so they had plenty of energy left while the rest were trying to catch their breath.

"Maya will be a big problem." Gaige warned. "I'm going to make a dash towards her, I need you to hit her though."

"I'll try, but we have to watch out for those two over there." Devon reminded.

"When I say three we go. Ready?" Gaige laughed.

"Yeah, lets,"

"THREE!" Gaige shouted as she flipped over the counter towards the remaining Siren.

"Son of a Bitch!" Devon gasped as he grabbed a slice of toast covered in some kind of jelly. He waited until the blue haired woman came into view before launching his ammo at her.

"What the?" Maya gasped as she felt her arm get hit by the breakfast item.

"Right on!" Gaige laughed until she was hit by the same apple Devon had tossed at Axton.

"Haha! I got her hombre!" Salvador cheered before he was sprayed by a bottle of ketchup.

"Sorry Sal, but I don't take kindly to being fed Slag." Axton laughed as he spun the bottle.

"You pendejo!" Sal roared as he tried to grab the traitor.

Devon watched his only remaining foe run for the area Maya had been camped out in. Devon saw another bottle on the counter behind him and grabbed it, rushing towards the soldier.

"You got guts kid, I'll give you that!" Axton laughed as he took aim at Devon and squeezed. Devon managed to roll behind a table and jumped up to fire his bottle at the soldier, coating him in red.

"Holy shit, I won!" Devon cheered dropping the bottle. "How in the hell did I do that?"

Axton laughed as he wiped the sauce from his face. "Not bad. You could make a hell of a fighter."

"That was totally awesome!" Gaige giggled as she ran up to hug her new friend.

"THE STRANGER HAS OVERCOME OUR DANGER!" Krieg laughed walking up to Devon. "MEET THE MEAT MAN!"

"I'm Devon, and you must be Krieg." Devon greeted offering his hand to the Psycho.

"He doesn't shake hands often." Maya sighed. "But he likes you seeing as he hasn't tried to kill you."

"We should probably start cleaning up..." Lilith sighed.

"Or we could leave and whoever is left will clean it." Axton whispered to Devon. "We've got jobs to do, so lets get to em."

* * *

"So this is our new brother..." yawned Kronos as he observed Runner. He didn't see anything special in this prisoner. A black bodysuit, four fingers on each hand. "What did you do?"

"Political assassination." replied One quickly.

"I see. Well, I think Artemis's name for you fits. You can either go by One or Runner. We'll call you both." Kronos said with a smile. "You've already met Dirge and Artemis, allow me to introduce you to everyone else. Riptide!"

Responding to his name, an athletic young man sprinted over. Riptide wore a black wet suit, a red number ten painted over his heart. He had short cropped blonde hair and green eyes that shined a little too brightly.

"I'm Riptide, Devil called me Dolphin. I was captured for stealing military grade robotics. A frog-suit, cybernetic armor that increased my body strength above and under water. I had to go through some cyber augmentation though. I can see crystal clear under water, regardless of whats in it. I'm the muscle for this guy, even though he doesn't need anyone to enforce his rules. We all follow his lead." laughed the blonde.

"Delta!" barked Kronos.

"Up here." shouted a teenager from a stack of crates. He had a laptop similar to the one Dirge had, but no music played from his. "I'm Delta, or Tron. I prefer Delta, Greek for change. I am an expert hacker, hacked into S&S files, sold there files to Hyperion, got rich for a while until Hyperion pulled my plug and sold me to Devil." Delta wore wire frame glasses and a plain black shirt with a red number four on the right sleeve.

"Don't let that kid lie to you. I'm the best hacker on this ship." shouted a stocky man sitting off alone. He had greasy black hair, and wore a black shirt with a red six on his left sleeve. "I, Helios, am the superior hacker."

"Hey Lights, go check the progress on that last program you working on, it has a bug or five." Delta growled.

"You two-bit hacker!" shouted the man getting up to run to his cell.

"I deleted the whole thing an hour ago." Delta laughed as he climbed down. "Another one of his strobe programs. He thinks he'll be able to get rid of me with pulsing lights."

"Just keep stalling him Delta." Kronos ordered.

"Will do chief." nodded the hacker.

* * *

"Devon what took you so long to get here?" Marcus shouted as Devon slowly slumped into the shop.

"Raiders made me clean the mess hall." Devon groaned as he sat in down on the last step. "I filed an order with Tediore for some of my tools."

"Alright, until then you can try out this design." Marcus ordered handing his employee a blueprint.

"When you said your designs I thought you meant actual weapons. These are weapon mods." Devon sighed. "I can easily make this. Did you sort all the working pieces?"

"Yes, are you going to get started on that?"

"Yeah, I just an ammo sync, a Torgue barrel, and a Hyperion stabilizer." Devon yawned. "And a place to test it out. I'm not testing indoors."

"Fine, I'll have one of the Vault Hunters clear out an area." Marcus called as he started up the stairs.

"If you see Gaige ask her if she'll bring a few shields she won't mind losing." Devon shouted after his boss.

Devon hoisted himself up and began searching for the parts required. He then got the idea to repay Gaige at the same time, and pulled out the Vladof rifle he had taken from the vendor. He began gathering the parts he wanted to add to the rifle. He pointed his Gauntlet at a radio and pressed a button and his music began to play from the speaker. He smirked, his project was working well so far.

* * *

"Hey Axton, got any booster shields? The only extras I have are amps." Gaige shouted from her equipment locker in the Raider Armory.

"Uhh, yeah and an absorption shield. I was honestly about to sell 'em. Why?"

"Devon had a thing that needed shields." Gaige replied. "I'm about to bring them over to him. Want to see what he's working on?"

Axton rummaged through his weapon crate and grabbed a corrosive Sandhawk. "I'd love to, but I got to clear out Liar's Berg. Marcus has plans there. I'll probably meet you there if Marcus is doing what I'm thinking."

"Alright. Seeya," Gaige said as she accepted the shields Axton no longer needed.

Gaige ran to the balcony Brick often worked out on and jumped over the railing. She was excited to see Devon's Gauntlet in action.


	7. Chapter 7: Baby Steps

Zer0 walked about the clinic, testing his balance. Zed had applied bandages to the back of his head, and now wore them under his helmet. After keeping his face hidden for so long, he was actually relieved to trust someone again. Zed swore to keep what he had seen a secret, and allowed Zer0 to leave to join the others. Zer0 was going to surprise the others, but decided to visit Marcus's shop so he could talk to the newcomer.

As he walked down the stairs he heard loud music playing from the radio inside the shop. He entered the work space, and watched Devon assemble an assault rifle. Devon was humming along with the music, and it all reminded Zer0 of how he used to watch Dirge work. He had been reliving his time on that prison ship since he got the message.

"So you're up and out of the clinic." Devon whispered as he inspected a blue cylinder, not bothering to look at his visitor.

"How did you notice? Did I make any noises? Or are you alert?" Zer0 asked.

"A trick I picked up. People always tried to mess with me when I was assembling a prototype back at Tediore." Devon explained. "I learned to notice shadows. Useful for spotting people like you."

"What are you making?"

"An assault rifle for your anarchist. I decided to use a few of tricks to upgrade this Vladof, and now it's not even Vladof anymore. Marcus has me designing mods, I like making guns. Everyone has made a request, except you. What can I do for you?" Devon replied.

"I want you to inspect something for me." Zer0 whispered placing something in Devon's hand. "The recording of my attack. I will join you when it is time to review."

Devon looked at the data disc in his hand and smiled. "Sure, I'll finish this gun up and store it in my ECHO. When I go to test this with Marcus, I'll get started."

"Devon, is it ready?" Marcus shouted as he returned.

"Yeah, just finishing up a project of my own." Devon shouted back. "We got a place to test it out?"

"Yes, and an audience. The Vault Hunters have all gathered in Liar's Burgh to see how it works. It took a lot of convincing."

"I think I convinced one." Devon laughed nodding towards Zer0. "Want to come to the demo?"

"Sure." Zer0 nodded.

* * *

"What do you think Marcus is going to show us?" Axton yawned as he sat down next to the Liar's Berg bounty board.

"Probably something he had Devon put together." Gaige replied plopping down next to him.

"How long until he build's our guns?" Salvador groaned.

"You will have to wait until I get my tools." called Devon as he walked up with a black rifle with red symbols painted on it. "Today's demonstration will be a test of two products. The first will be the first of many, Marcus brand weapon mods. The grenade launcher, not like grenadiers made by Dahl. This will fire the grenades you usually throw. Can I have a volunteer?"

Sal and Gaige were excited to try out the new mod, but neither had an assault rifle to add launcher too. Devon ended up allowing Maya to try it out.

"Alright Maya, what you need to do is take your grenade mod and sync it with the launcher. I have an ammo sync in it so once it registers your grenade count they'll digistruct inside the tube. Now tell me what kind of grenade do you have?" Devon explained.

"A Tesla coil. So what do I do? Put my grenade mod in it?" Maya asked.

"You take the sensor that you have to swipe your grenade against to change the effects and swipe it across the barrel, like so." Devon instructed as he did the motions. As the Siren followed his instructions a bullymong came into sight. "There is your target, there is a button right here, press it and your grenade will be shot out."

Maya pressed the button Devon pointed out and laughed as she watched the Tesla coil plant itself between the bullymong's feet and let electricity surge into the beast. All the other Vault Hunters wanted to try out the launcher, but Devon wanted to demonstrate his rifle.

"My next toy is made specially for Gaige." Devon exclaimed holding out his assault rifle.

Gaige accepted the gun and inspected it. It was jet black with red anarchy symbols printed into it. There were a few blue wires that went through the rifle making it hum with electricity. It had a Vladof body, with a Dahl stock, simple iron sights, a Jakobs barrel, with a large ammo clip.

"The Spark of Anarchy," Devon explained. "_It only takes a spark_. This weapon takes longbow technology and warps the bullet right to your target. No chance of missing for our bullet hose."

"This is mine?" Gaige asked eyes wide with excitement. "I have to try this in the TVHS! Maya, Axton let's go! Devon you should see how it works, we can get you to learn how to fight."

"I don't know." Devon sighed, looking to Zer0.

"You know how to avoid getting shot, lets see how you do. We'll do Captain Flynt's sim." Axton chuckled. "You'll find some interesting stuff."

"You can also test your gauntlet." Gaige added.

Zer0 nodded, and causing Devon to accept the offer. "Maya, I need the launcher back so I can scan it so it can be digistructed. Once the scan is done I'll return it to you, and join you in the sim."

"No, if she wants it she'll have to pay. The only reason I'm letting you give that gun away is because it was your gun." Marcus growled in refusal.

"I'll get you one, don't worry." Devon whispered to Maya. "Fine you win boss."

* * *

One sat in silence as his escape pod drifted away from the burning ship. He had betrayed most of his friends. He sabotaged their only means of escape. He brushed his hand against his chest, trying to scrape the paint off of his body suit. He sighed as he got the red one off his chest. He needed a new name, and neither of his old names would work. He thought back to what Kronos had said. He was nothing, he was Zero.

* * *

Gaige had told Devon how the Vault Hunters' journey had begun with a train explosion. He was also aware that the True Vault Hunter Simulator would make things seem realistic. What he wasn't prepared for was being involved in the explosion and how badly it hurt to be involved in an explosion.

Devon followed Gaige while Axton and Maya went on ahead so they wouldn't have to deal with Claptrap. Gaige was holding her new rifle close, eager to test it out on Knuckle Dragger. Devon wasn't as excited about the combat, he was too busy marveling at how realistic the simulator was. He felt the cold of the snow around him, and thanked himself for finishing his thermal shield. He had downloaded the shields Gaige had brought for him, the amp wouldn't be much help for just a pistol, and was hoping to get something he could use more effectively.

"What are you thinking about?" Gaige inquired.

Devon looked at the mechromancer as she paced backwards, "Well I was thinking what would work for me. What kind of gun I mean. I'm also wondering how well the Gauntlet will work on shields equipped to people. But now I'm thinking how can you walk like that without bumping into anything?"

"I've done this like a hundred times. After our first test run we found a broken gun piece sticking out out of Knuckle's hand, he had this rare gun called a Hornet. I did some research on it and liker what the reviews said. So I tried a couple times to get him to drop it in good condition. It's in the armory now. Thing sucks." Gaige groaned.

"You kill the same person over and over to try and get them to drop something you don't even use? What's the point of that?" Devon laughed.

"The gun is pretty much a legend among gun nuts. Axton was so excited when he got his, on his first rematch I might add. Son of a bitch." Gaige sighed.

"Hey guys, Claptrap just got his eye yanked out. Come on in now." Maya called from the entry to Claptrap's shelter.

"Hurry up!" Axton barked.

"You were just as slow when you got blown up the first time." Gaige grumbled as she started running towards the doorway. "C'mon."

Devon groaned as he started running to catch up. He was shocked at the sight of the piles of frozen dead bodies, he had prepared for a few scattered corpses, but not the massive amounts. He looked away to avoid from getting sick. When he got inside he was surprised that Claptrap lived in a cave full of deactivated Claptraps.

"It's a hard thing to look at the first time." Maya comforted Devon when she noticed how he was reacting to the sights. "It's not the worst thing we'll see."

"That's not comforting." Devon groaned pulling his hat over his eyes.

"Sorry." Maya sighed patting his shoulder.

* * *

Lilith sat in an observation chair with Tannis and Mordercai watching the Axton and the others follow Claptrap. She was interested in how Devon's inventions would work. Tannis was watching Devon intently for some reason.

"Kid's gotta get over death." Mordecai sighed.

"I don't think he'll try to be a Raider. He might be better off behind the scenes." Lilith replied.

"He seems to be intelligent. I would like to converse with him." Tannis murmured

"You can do that after they finish the run Tannis." Mordecai yawned. "Let's spice it up, I'm tossing in a Bullyrott among the first wave of monglets."

"It's Devon's first time! You can't do that, you wouldn't let Talon square off against Mothrakk when he starts to fight!" Lilith shouted slapping her old friend.

The sniper laughed as he swatted away Lilith and accidentally hit a button. "Oh shit..." he muttered when he read what was being added into the area with Knuckle Dragger.

"Is that who I think it is?" Lilith gasped.

"This should be interesting." Tannis mused as she focused in on the arena.

* * *

"I'm not gonna lie, it's getting easier to kill animals." Devon laughed. "I can't wait to get myself a new gun."

"Hey, we'll make a Vault Hunter out of you in no time." Axton laughed punching Devon's arm.

"Uhh, guys. Something is going on at the barge." Gaige whispered.

"What the hell are they thinking?" Axton growled. "Devon, you won't die in this, but your injuries are real. This won't be easy."

Devon stared up at a towering robotic dinosaur resting atop the Hyperion barge.

"I told you to stay away. Now we're going to settle this, gladiator versus gladiator, versus GIANT METAL FREAKING T-REX!" shouted a loud voice from within the metal monstrosity.

"Pull the plug?" Gaige suggested.

"We can't do that when hostiles are around." Maya muttered.

"Then let's take it down." Devon suggested pulling his pistol out of its holster.

"It took all six of us to take that thing down!" Gaige shouted. "Plus it has a shield now!"

"Yeah, well we don't now. Devon see if you can disable its shield while Maya and I take out its fuel tanks. Gaige get Deathtrap to take care of the bullymongs. You are going to watch Devon's back." Axton barked.

"You got it boss." Devon nodded, sprinting to cover.

Gaige brought out her robotic bff and sent him to handle crowd control while she fired at any rockets that targeted Devon. Devon held his Gauntlet in front of his face, focusing on his task. Maya managed to Phaselock one of fuel tanks off, disabling the beast's fire breath.

"At least we don't have Torgue praising this thing!" Axton laughed tossing his two turrets in front of him and Maya.

"I thought it was funny." Maya mused, shooting at the Badassasaurus.

"Alright, this should make the shields go down!" Devon shouted.

The three Vault Hunters looked through their head's up display to see if Devon had truly broken the shield, but he had done so much more. The surge of the shield being destroyed caused the fuel tanks to explode, making the metal monster eject its pilot. Piston slowly rose to his feet only to be knocked to the ground by Deathtrap, and filled with lead by Axton's turrets.

"Doesn't that thing usually not have shields?" Maya asked Axton.

"It didn't matter. We'll talk about it after TANNIS gets us out." Axton shouted.

"Guy's, Devon is bleeding!" Gaige called as she attempted to drag Devon towards them.

* * *

"Impressive," Mordecai laughed. "I don't understand why you had me give a shield to it though."

"It was a test of pressure." Tannis snapped. "In the event that they became relieved that we removed that behemoth they would become weak."

"Tannis, I know you're behind that!" Axton roared as he kicked the door open.

"I'm only responsible for the shield." Tannis chided. "Where is the newcomer?"

"The explosion tore the thing apart, a piece hit Devon, knocked him out cold." Gaige sighed. "Maya is carrying him to Zed's. But you have to admit that was badass. He just made the whole thing explode like BOOM! Torgue should have seen that."

"We can resume this conversation later. I wish to only speak to the inventor." Tannis sighed walking past Gaige out the door.

"What's her deal?" Gaige asked looking at Lilith.

The Siren merely shrugged and began to explain what happened.

* * *

"How many men are you going to drag into my clinic Maya?" Zed groaned as he pulled on his gloves.

"He got hurt in the TVHS." Maya shrugged.

"How'd I do?" Devon muttered weakly.

"You kicked its ass." Maya said with a smile, patting his shoulder.

"Awesome." Devon yawned.

"This is all he needs." Zed chuckled handing Devon a health hypo.

Devon winced as he stabbed the needle into his chest. "I used these all the time. I always hurt myself, still not used to needles."

"Good, you're awake. I need to converse with you." Tannis cheered approaching Devon.

"Oh good, the real doctor is here." Zed grumbled.

"Gimme until I've eaten something," Devon groaned.

"We'll talk over lunch." Tannis ordered grabbing Devon and dragging him off.

Devon whimpered as he pulled out of the clinic. He looked to Maya to help him, but she was at a loss.


	8. Chapter 8: It's a Family Reunion (Kinda)

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay for this chapter. Every time I had finished it an error occurred with the document, which made every single thing I typed either just a ton of spaces, or a ton of squares. And college courses didn't really help either, but I digress. I'm glad to finally post something again.**

* * *

"What's the matter Sugar?" asked Moxxie as she sat down across from Devon. "It's not often that a newcomer arrives. Even rarer for someone to come here for the first time and not try to flirt with me."

Devon looked up at the sultry bartender and smiled weakley. "Sorry, I never was good at flirting. Besides I'm trying to digest an offer made by Tannis."

"That quack acts all high and mighty. She is even worse than me sometimes when it comes to sex." Moxxie laughed.

"She wants me to move in with her so I can be her assistant. She tried to seal the deal by stripping." Devon chuckled.

"She is different. I always make it clear when I'm interested in getting into a bed with someone, or somewhere else that is just as sturdy." Moxxie purred, leaning towards Devon.

Devon leaned back, and nervously laughed. "I'm sorry, I don't think I've introduced myself. I'm Devon, and I will be working for Marcus."

"I've heard about you, and I'm sure you've heard about me." Moxxie giggled.

"Moxxie back off!" barked Mordecai as he walked into the bar.

"Can't get over that I'm taking an interest in someone that isn't you?" Moxxie sighed as she got up.

Mordecai scowled as he passed his ex-girlfriend and slid into the seat next to Devon. "How you doing man? Sorry about that Badassasaurus incident in the simulator. Tannis's idea."

"She explained that to me." Devon laughed. "You have access to the codes for the simulator right?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Mordecai yawned.

"I want to create a test area in the simulator and I need the codes to construct enemies to use as targets." Devon stated. "In exchange I can give you a sniper rifle that will be one of a kind."

"Heh, sure man. Gimme you ECHO id and I'll grant you access to the commands." Mordecai nodded.

Before Devon could write down the numbers, Axton burst into the bar and looked to Mordecai. "We got Hyperion in the city!"

* * *

Sitting in the cramped prison cell in Marshall Friedman's office was a woman wearing a Hyperion blazer over a black v-neck, showing her cleavage, and heart tattoo on her left breast. She calmly brushed her dirty blonde hair away from her eyes and looked at the woman staring at her.

Maya quickly grabbed her and brought her into the office before any Raider could see her. The woman was bold to come here on her own, and to come unarmed was incredibly brave.

"Who are you?" Maya asked.

"I am just a Hyperion employee who was given access to the codes for Sanctuary and was coming to invite anyone who was interested to join an event being sponsored by our company." the woman said with a slight smile.

Something about the woman's demeanour was familar to the Siren. Maya tried to identify, what made her feel like she had met her before. Before Maya could ask any further questions Axton burst in with Mordecai and Devon in his wake.

"How did Hyperion get in our city?" Axton shouted.

"How did you find out about her?" Maya snapped.

"I saw you drag her in here, back to the issue at hand. How did she get here?" Axton growled.

"If I may interrupt," the woman interjected, "I was given the access codes by a resident of Sanctuary. He gave his permission to come here."

"Who?" asked Mordecai.

"Scooter, the town mechanic." the woman replied.

"I'll go get him." Devon sighed as he walked out the door.

"Do that." Axton nodded. "Now who are you?"

"An entertainer." laughed the woman.

"I'm not entertained." Mordecai commented.

"I'm not here to entertain right now. I'm here to invite you all to a little event that will be going on in couple of months." the woman chided.

"What is your name?" Maya sighed, her patience beginning to wear thin.

"Scoot!" shouted Scooter as he entered the building. "Well you came here right quick!"

"I got Scooter." Devon called as he followed the mechanic. "I see he recognizes her."

"Scooter, it's good to see you haven't changed your wardrobe." laughed the woman.

"Scooter who is she?" Axton growled.

"This is my older sister Scoot. I'm named after her." the mechanic explained.

As everything became clear, Maya realized how the woman was familiar. The tattoo was the same as the one both Moxxie and Ellie shared. Her face was similar in structure to Moxxie's, and her hair was the exact same color as Scooter's.

"My name is Scooter, but I go by Scoot, so my brother and I don't get confused. I figured that by hiding my name I might give a little surprise."

"It almost got you shot." Axton grunted.

"Well I'm glad you showed restraint. It's a quality that I wish most of my family exhibited." Scoot replied with a smile.

"I like her. Hyperion or not I like her." Devon stated bluntly. Scooter gave Devon a look that would make most people shudder in fear, but Devon paid no heed to the mechanic.

"I think I've seen you before honestly." Scoot said noticing Devon. "You have been a pretty big deal in the ECHO broadcasts around the big civil systems. Wanted for a business assassination."

"I worked for Tediore for half my life, and he was only in charge for a year. If anything I restored order to that company by offing that college hotshot." Devon argued.

"You have a bounty. Tediore didn't set it on you, but you are wanted for evading arrest." Scoot laughed.

"Hey, you're on the right path to become a Vault Hunter now." Mordecai chuckled.

"Back to the reason why I wanted to come to Sanctuary," Scoot interrupted, "I'd prefer to give this announcement to all the Vault Hunters."

"We'll go get them." Mordecai sighed grabbing Devon. "We'll meet up in Moxxie's bar."

* * *

At the bar Moxxie was overjoyed to see one of her daughters come to see her. Lilith and Brick sat with Mordecai in a booth while they waited for the arrival of Salvador and Zer0. Axton stood in the doorway looking for his fellow Crimson Raiders while Maya and Krieg passed the time with the slot machines. Gaige and Devon were drawing plans for an upgrade to Deathtrap that would make it so the android could cloak like Zer0.

"The only thing that we need is Zer0's cooperation." Devon sighed.

"Why not try to replicate the biological cloaking mechanism of the stalkers?" Gaige suggested.

"That'd work for a living subject, but we need mechanical for a machine. Maybe we should just focus on a nuclear deployment." Devon groaned.

"Sorry for the wait. Sal and I wanted to train. We killed Jack... again." Zer0 apologized as he entered the bar with Sal in tow. Axton followed behind the pair.

"Now that everyone is here, I guess I can start my little offer." Scoot nodded. She took a deep breath and then made her speech. "Vault Hunters, Heroes of Pandora, Crimson Raiders, Number One Badasses. These are titles that are applicable to you all. I'm here to offer the chance to add a new title to that list, 'Pandoran Speed Demon.' Hyperion is sponsering a race in order to build up funds in order to rebuild all the damage done by our former leader Handsome Jack. The race will be comprised of six races. Each one testing the mettle of the driver, their ability to adapt, and their skill behind the wheel. If you enter and win then you can earn not only the title, but also a supply of Hyperion goods, including tools, weapons, and discontinued merchandise. Are any of you interested?"

There was a pause before Axton stood up. "Sign me up. I always had fun drag racing with the Runners, this'll be fun."

"It's a team event." Scoot added. "You must have at least one driver, a gunner, a mechanic, a crew manager, and a sponsor."

"Sign me up for gunner!" Sal shouted jumping up next to the commando.

"I'm down for designing weapons for the vehicle." Devon laughed.

"I'll build you a vehicle that will kick ass and get you some!" Scooter shouted joining the crew.

"I'm going to help with the building so it has some safety features." Gaige volunteered.

"I wanna be the manager of you huggabutts!" Tina shouted from a booth in the corner. "I'm sure Mr. Torgue would be thrilled to join us in this momentous event." she added.

"Sounds like you have all the necessary parts of a team. Don't worry about giving the list now though. The event is still being planned. This is just a little sneak peak so you will have an advantage in the race. We will host the event in three months at the earliest." Scoot informed.

* * *

While everyone began to talk of plans for the races, Zer0 grabbed Devon and Lilith and snuck out to the TVHS. Zer0 gave Lilith a copy of his ECHO recording of the event and had Devon follow him into the simulator so that he could develop tools to stop the escaped convicts.

"You sure you want this to be a secret?" Lilith asked through the intercoms of the simulator.

"Yes." Zer0 bluntly replied.

"Go ahead and bring up the first contact." Devon yawned.

Lilith complied to the request and fast forwarded the recording to when Dirge and Artemis attached. The two prisoners just as Zer0 remembered from their days on the prison ship.

Dirge was in his mid-twenties, with short cropped black hair, and blue streaks throughout his hair. He wore a white shirt under a black hoodie with the sleeves torn off and a red "03" painted on the front. He had black torn pants, and headphones around his neck. His weapon, "the Bass Cannon" was interesting to Devon. It harnessed a single note and amplified it to an extreme volume causing the massive shockwave that had shot Zer0 back in the ambush.

Artemis was in her mid-twenties as well. She wore a pair of goggles as a headband to hold her brunette hair out of her face. Devon noted they were Atlas magnifying lenses, and scanned them so he could Digistruct a pair later. She wore a black cloak, made of a material that wasn't recognized by any of the three investigators. Under the cloak she wore a simple black shirt and camoflagued pants. On her belt were several pouches, and a sheath. She had cybernetic gloves that were also Atlas tech. They could create plasma weapons, and what was most evident was her bow she had used to attack.

"These two were your friends right?" Devon asked the assassin.

"Yes. Now they are not. I could not tell them the truth. Kronos interfered." Zer0 muttered. "Next encounter."

"You could say please." Lilith growled through the intercom.

"Please." Devon called up to the Siren.

Lilith found a problem as she skipped to the part where Zer0 had been pinned to by the hulking Aegis. The prisoners' leader, Kronos was there, but his enforcer was not.

"His shield was a prototype of Pangolin's right? Maybe they have a cloaking protocol that keep them hidden in recordings." Devon offered.

"Then we can only record Kronos." Zer0 stated flatly.

"I liked you better when you talked more." Devon muttered as he began taking notes on the man in front of him.

Kronos was older than the pair before him. He was early to mid thirties, and had blood red hair. He was decked out in all black. Black shirt with a red "11" printed on it, and the sleeves torn off. He had the same black pants a prisoner would wear. He only had one weapon, and that was his staff. Devon was curious about it. He scanned the staff with his Gauntlet and was shocked by the feedback coming from it.

"This staff has Eridian technology!" he shouted. "The readings match the same as Eridian weapons, the ones that made Atlas such a powerhouse. I need to reconstruct this!"

"Do it, we can find out how he managed to break through the Phaselock." Lilith ordered.

"I'm trying to, it'd be easier if this guy would let go of it." Devon muttered.

"Play it live." Zer0 requested drawing his sword. "Devon stand back."

As Devon backed away Lilith activated the simulator causing the stillframe of Kronos to come to life, only to be cut down from behind by Zer0 who appeared. The Zer0 that had been next to Devon dissapeared revealing he had been using Decepti0n. The staff rolled to Devon's feet, which were shaking.

"There you go, bring it with you. We're done here." Zer0 stated.

Lilith began to shut down the simulator as Devon collected what he had gathered. He picked the staff up and noticed it had carvings all over it, but were not visible. He assumed the carvings were the Eridian language, which meant he would have to go back to Tannis in order to learn about it. He gritted his teeth as he exited the building and headed back towards the doctor's home.

"Devon where are you going with the staff?" Lilith called.

"Tannis. If it's related to the Eridians she would know about it. Although I don't really want to go by myself." Devon sighed.

"I'll hold your hand don't worry." the Siren laughed following the newest citizen of Sanctuary.

"Are there any empty houses that I could move into?" Devon asked as they walked.

"Only one that is free is close to Scooter's garage. The resident shot herself, but the house has been cleaned." Lilith answered.

"I don't care if it was where Jack was conceived as long as I don't have to live with Tannis." Devon shuddered.

"You already have the mindset of most the residents of this city." Lilth laughed. "You're going to fit in just fine here."


End file.
